Tag Archives: Rick Nielsen

A few months back I had a great conversation with Scott (HMO) about all things Cheap Trick. We discussed at great length our fav albums of Cheap Trick(basically the whole 70’s output) and the not so good stuff (basically the whole 80’s output except for the very underrated 1982 album One On One) and the soon to be released We’re All Alright (which has been out since June 16th)

Scott said he was going to wait this one out before taking the plunge as Scott did indeed take the plunge on Tricks studio release from last year Bang Zoom Crazy… Hello. Let’s just say Scott was a tad little disappointed to say the least and I will leave it at that! Bug Scott if you want more info….

I almost joined Scott’s line of thinking. A few weeks back I was in our local record store “Sunrise Records” and I actually held the physical copy of the disc in hand. I hemmed/hawed/more hem/more haw and then put it in my pocket and walked out! HAHAHA….no I did not lift it I put it back in the Cheap Trick section and walked out. I could not pull the trigger purchase on it…..

Jon from Sweden posted a quick little blurb on Facecrack that he was loving the new CT album. I sent Jon a message saying “really?” Jon said it was a great album…

Than….another fella named….

John over at his fantastic written Blog 2loud2oldmusic site reviewed We’re All Alright and John loved it…Check it out for yourselves… Click the link below folks’

John’s review sold me on it so off to iTunes and I downloaded the deluxe edition and as an added bonus the Trick included the digital booklet!

Upon first listen I was hooked! It’s an amazing album and it’s as CT dug back to their roots and decided to rock it out and if were keeping score this is my first new studio Trick purchase since the brilliant 1997 self titled release! 20 years it has been….

Robin Zander/Tom Pettersson/Rick Nielsen and Daxx Nielsen need to be saluted here for all intents and purposes may have in my mind made the best Rock album of 2017!

Right out of the gate Trick fires on all four cylinders on the song You Got It Going On. Zander still has one of the best sets of pipes in the biz. Listening to his voice you wouldn’t know it was 1977/1987/1997/2007 or 2017! 40 years man! What a vocal run. Rick Neilsen looking today more like a creepy old Uncle than the Geeky College nerd of 1977 still has a ton of classic riff’s up his sleeve!

First single Long Time Runnin is a great track. Straight forward hard rock done Trick style! Cool lyrics and of course a real good lead vocal by Zander. Must also mention about the production by Julian Raymond as he has produced this album brilliantly. Not too much polish on this album yet still keeping it a little rough around the edges.

The next two tracks Nowhere and Radio Lover ( Radio Lover was a demo from 97)are brilliant tracks and man I just love Tom’s 12 String Hamer Bass and Daxx’s drum workout’s on these tracks. Nowhere and Radio Lover could have easily fit right on the debut Trick album back in 76! Basically a pissed of Trick dumped into a blender with some punky attitude rock.

Brand New Name on a Old Tattoo has Robin wailing like it’s Auf Wiedersehen time. Can’t believe Zander is still rocking the throat like this in 2017. This is another hard rock track. Love the groove.

Basically let’s put it this way. 5 tracks in so far! 5 Brilliant well written Hard Rock Nuggets!

Oh oh here it comes….The ballad……oh man ….wait for it! Floating Down is ballad like for about a minute and then shift gears to a tempo that I’m comfy with! That’s thanks to Daxx on the drums. The Flame from 1988 has been extinguished!

She’s Alright has the band picking up the pace with some roots like rock action. Love the opening bass and drum groove to start the tune. Cool laid back musical vibe with a cool laid back vocal vibe.

Listen To Me is another throwback 70’s workout and Tom and Rick lock horns and stomp all over the verse’s while Robin just flat-out takes over which will come as no surprise!

The Rest of My Life ends the regular album with a mid tempo like tune. Another sure-fire winner with a real sweet Trick like chorus!

The Deluxe Version features three more tracks…!

Trick does a cover of The Move’s song BlackBerry Way with Cheap Trick’s gives it a Beatle’s like stamp. No lagging on the bonus tracks even with a cover included! Like the all the swirling like action going on in the background.

The Fly gets things back to rock with some Rick feed backing off of his amp. The Fly is a great hard rock tune with Tom playing a bunch of solid bass licks under the drums and guitar.

Everyone is saying that the final track If You Still Want My Love is the followup up 1982’s If You Want My Love. Perhaps but like the 82 classic this 2017 song is a great track. If I had it my way I would have ended this album with The Fly as I always like to go out Rockin but still since the Tricks did a solid album I can forgive em for this . Bottom line is a great track is a great track and this is well….you get the picture!

Well what can I tell ya!? Cheap Trick have dug deep into there 1970’s vibe and in the year of 2017 have totally blown me out of the water on how good of an album this is. You know my deal with these guys through this blog. Loved all that 70’s into the early 80’s output than their collective wheels came off on the various 80’s albums(The Doctor/Lap of Luxury/Busted/Woke Up With A Monster) yet I still purchased their output as Cheap Trick was one of those earliest bands that I had discovered on my own!

I must also mention that in all the rocked up glory on this album I like how Trick uses some strings throughout the album(the track Nowhere being one). For myself these kinds of things remind me of way Trick did things back on the classic Dream Police.

Hell,even the front and back covers look throwback.

So good to see these guys ramp it up with a 13 song album that flies by with one catchy hook after another…

Cheap Trick….always loved the quirkiness of these Rockford Illinois dudes! How could you not! You had the two cool looking Rock guys (Robin Zander & Tom Petersson) and the two looking Geeks( Rick Nielsen & Bun E Carlos) Great marketing job and it worked for years especially with the album covers (In Color & Heaven Tonight) but say what you want about image it was the music that did the talking but with these guys with the hits came the misfires. Albums that kinda skidded by the wayside fell short in Trickville.

1986s The Doctor album I reviewed and tossed it under the bus! The first song(It’s Up To You) and the last song (It’s Only Love) which speaking of It’s Only Love which is a well written piece of Power Trick Pop are the two best tracks from The Doctor. In between was a hodge podge of lack lustre material to say the least. Here’s my link to my review of The Doctor……https://superdekes.wordpress.com/2015/05/13/34s-filler-cheap-trickthe-doctor/

I was pretty stoked to learn that after a 8 year absence Petersson was returning with his 12 String Hamer Bass replacing Jon Brandt who filled in admirably while Tom was doing whatever it was he was doing….

1988 and after the debacle which was The Doctor here comes Lap Of Luxury which to my ears is another misstep in Cheap Tricks mid 80s to early 90s commercial slide ….

Course I bought it!

The first couple of tracks are just straight ahead syrupy power rock. Album opener Let Go could have been a great track but its washed in keyboards and Bun E’s drums are mixed in a sterile box along with all the trappings of dudes who are floundering for any second crack at success.

No Mercy is another so so tune. Zander and his voice save the day from this song from hitting the scrap yard just like how Brad Delp salvaged Bostons Third Stage album. Zander can sing. Wowzers even Rick drops a guitar solo in this song amidst electronic everything floating around.

Yikes! The Flame for me is a sellout track. Trick especially Nielsen hated this tune as no one in Trick had any say in the writing of it! I will say that I was glad it got Trick back in the spotlight and made them cool again and this song I’m sure people out there like it. Fair enough but not me….Cool Cheap Trick for me is stuff like She’s Tight from 1982s criminally underrated One On One album…..

Space is like if you were to mash-up The Cars/Cheap Trick and I like this song. ‘I need some space’ belts Robin in a Ric Ocasek kinda way and toss in some female backing vocals and its Quirky Trick with an added tinge of Quirky Cars. This is a good song in a 1988 way!

Try as they may Trick tries to muster up some rock serious rock and Never Had A Lot To Lose is a great song! A driving rock track that has a real good chorus and it only took to track 5 to ramp things back up into old school respectability!

Don’t Be Cruel is the Elvis tune. Good on these guys getting another hit single off of this album but it must have been worrisome that both your big singles from this record are tunes you didn’t write! In fairness it was a long 10 years (1978-1988) for Cheap Trick to go without a real decent seller and if I was in their boots I would have done the same thing.

Wrong Side Of Love is decent tempo with a pretty decent chorus but it gets drowned in a wash of late 80s keys. Holy man even Bun E is slamming that ride cymbal down on this track.

All We Need Is A Dream is pomp rock and another stab at a hit but i think this would fall under ‘NOPE!’ Nuthin fancy here folks…Next….

Unfortunately things are sliding at a rapid pace around here as Ghost Town is a one stop order of Schlep Rock meaning MEH! Trick in the year of 2016 should sell this song to one of those wannabe New Country Hee Haw acts and they could retool this song and make it a hit. This song is a slowly slow tune….Next…

All Wound Uphas the boys trying to salvage the end of the album blahs with a ramp up in the tempo but nada nope. It’s just the sign of a band wanting to toss a Life Preserver for any diehard to latch onto.

Cheap Trick man I still love and listen to these guys all the time but its a mix n match of stuff. Love the 70s output! Love 1982’s One On One album and also the classic 1997 self titled album that is so good that no one knows about….

Lap Of Luxury I was happy that Trick got another crack at success but in the general scheme of things it was a commercial bunch of mish mash.

It’s gotta suck when you put a real almost classic like record and no one knows about it! Well I’m gonna frigging take matters into my own hands here and teach you all a little Rock 101 in what you need for your collection ….

Shall I begin …??!

Cheap Trick the self titled album from the Tricksters came and went without a whimper in 1997 and what was it down to? Was it the fact that people didn’t care..mmmm,maybe I mean this was a full 10 years (1988)after the Tricks rode a payday with the album Lap Of Luxury that featured The Sap…oops I mean The Flame! Along with the Elvis cover of Don’t Be Cruel! I thought Lap Of Luxury was not a good album. I bought it of course but give me Tricks One On One from 1982,Dream Police from 1979 or Heaven Tonight from 1978! Those are Trick records. Perhaps it was the music climate that was snuffed out in 1997 by Creed and others that did this album in. I think why a lot of peeps didn’t hear this was due to the fact that the record label that this was on went belly up shortly after its release! (3 weeks after this album came out!)I’m going with that one( Record Company Tanking) CUZ this album Rocks……

Not to be confused with there debut album they called this one uncredited the 1997 album….

Let me explain it to Ya!

Same cast of characters as was back in 79 for the Dream Police! That would be Robin Zander,Tom Petersson,Bun E Carlos and Rick Nielsen…..

ANYTIME-as I stated in my Dream Police post! Trick has two cool guys and two nerds! By 1997 this image that was put forth back in the 70s was finished by 1997! Fair enough! Anytime starts the 97 Trick Party and Bun E opens the album with a real cool beat on the drums. The 70s image of Bun E smoking and playing drums and looking like some washed up real estate agent which was friggin funny as hell but It kinda took away the fact that the cat could drum! Anytime proves that Bun E drives the song forward! Like the little snippets of Nielsens melodic playing while Petersson still Bassing those 12 stringer Hamer basses. The money shot though is Zander’s voice! Smooth during the verses and he basically goes real heavy during the chorus! Anytime is Cheap Trick Heavy Rock circa 1997 and I’m glad as there’s not a keyboard in site! Crank the video posted! See I’m not fooling ya’s!

HARD TO TELL- Cheap Trick are the power pop hard rock champs! Hard To Tell is that track! This song is so damn catchy as the song is driven by a real cool opening followed by a killer bass line to keep us all amused ! The Tricks pulled out all the stops on this song and it should have been released as a single but when your label bails what do you do? Still though this is a great well written performed tune executed how we like it at Arena Rock! The Tricks always have real Gems up there sleeves even when they put out 3/4s Filler like the Doctor album from 1986! I reviewed it and basically said it was a complete Diaster except for Its Only Love which is the last tune on the album! It’s Only Love is gold man and the video is classic! Hard To Tell is another in the long line of classic CT tunes except Hard To Tell is on a real good record! I posted the studio track of Hard To Tell and Yep that’s the cover of the album with Bun E’s drums and Nielsens 6 neck guitar.

CARNIVAL GAME- a mid tempo tune with a quirky keyboard and yeppers I’m ok with this as Trick has always done these kinds of tunes on every album. Carnival keeps the pace going with some nice acoustic woven with some chill electric. Not a bad song at all.

SHELTER-a Synthy driven ballad that is so out of place on here it must have been a leftover from the 80s…eeeck! Me not like! I call this song the Skipper …meaning skip…..

YOU LET A LOTTA PEOPLE DOWN- now we’re cookin! Thank gosh after the musical massacre that was Shelter this song is a throwback to 70s Trick! Big sound from the bass and drums and guitars and its a heavy tune not in a metal sense but just heavy in the production end of things. Super cool chorus and just a great tune! Wall of sound this one!

BABY NO MORE-is simple Trick! A real quick tune with Bun E smashing the sheeeit out of his hi hat,cymabals and snare drum! The bass and drums are locked in and this picks up the pace! We’ll call it Speed Trick!

YEAH YEAH-this is almost a post grungey mash up of Cheap Trick colliding with a Seattle Grunger bar band circa 1993! Zander and the boys slam it straight ahead with this tune and a ton of Yeahs prevail throughout the song! This is a great track and it features that wall of quirky sound that we all love from the Trick!

SAY GOODBYE-before the record company went boobs up this was the lead single. A little more on the lighter side but a prety good tune never the less. Trick at times had to play the game and well who didn’t play the game(insert Queen reference here!)

WRONG ALL ALONG-a gem friends! This is simple Trick with drums,bass and one guitar recorded live off the floor! Carlos shuffles the beat along and quirky Rick plays the tune chill while Zander tells us we have Been Wrong All Along! The tune is a quick little number and its over in under 2 minutes 30 seconds! Great solo with Tom driving the bus with his bass with some cool changes and Bun E holds down the fort! Crank the video posted ..its live!

EIGHT MILES LOW-Trick lays it hard n heavy devy style with 8 Miles Low! This song is another late album Gem folks! Nielsen slams the guitar hard on this one along with Carlos on the drums and Zander delivers a keeper vocal! The pre chorus is slick man Trick always had a real good knack for writing simple pop ditties but running them through a Marshall cranked at 10!

IT ALL COMES BACK TO YOU-Trick totally eases off the pedal here. That’s ok and they end the album with a real slower tune! Not bad and waaaaaaay better than Shelter! Amen to that!

IN CONCLUSION- Cheap Trick deliver a scorcher of a album that’s right up on par with there 70s output! I wasn’t expecting much but Wowzers these dudes delivered a solid ball of classic rock! Nielsen being the main guy who wrote all the tunes totally stepped up and wrote a bunch of great tracks! Zander as always has never taken a dip vocally the guy sounds the same today as he did back in 76! It’s also real cool that the original lineup was still intact when they did this as well…..

As many of you now know late 1979 and heading into 1980 Kiss and Cheap Trick were my super duper fav acts! While we all know (except for me at the time)that Kiss’ career was starting to downward spiral Cheap Trick on the other hand were on top of the world so to speak!

Tricks Live At The Budokan blew the doors off many a stereo speaker in many a household back in 1979 so much so that the record company suits had to sit on Dream Police for a year as it was finished but as Budokan was selling zillions of copies Dream Police was not released until the Budokan album slowed down. It must have been a good feeling for those wacky Tricksters to know they had a completely finished album in the can and didn’t have to worry about anything other than playing I Want You To Want Me to screaming chicks while cashing some big paycheques along the way….

Dream Police when it was released i was onboard and this was my first Trick studio album and second owned Trick(Budokan of course being the first!) album.

I loved Cheap Tricks deal i mean you had the two cool rock guys out front! That being Robin Zander(lead vocals and guitar) and Tom Petersson (bass)…

Than you had the two geeks in the dressed up nerd Rick Nielsen(guitar) and chain Smokin drummer who looks like he’s selling real estate Bun E Carlos(drums)…

Say what Ya want but the 2 geeks and the 2 cool dudes could play and write real catchy hard rock pop ditties…

Dream Police is that album….a well written slab of hard rock tunes crafted and performed well and to this day this album is still a solid ball of rock! Love the gatefold sleeve and lyrics included! These guys knew how to package a rock record!

Ello Kiddies…….

DREAM POLICE-well even if your not a ol school Tricker you know this tune and it’s the title and lead off track and the Tricks lay down the law! Big sweeping driving tune mixed with the synth that propels the song along at a nice clip! Rick Neilsen the dorkie looking guitarist could write great songs and up to this point he was doing just that! Of course having a great vocalist in Robin Zander also helps! Zander for me is the reason I have always liked Trick! Dream Police the song here has that middle part with just Nielsen yapping and playing the creepy part of a creeper while Tom drives the bass and well poor Nielsen he gets persecuted by the judge an jury and before he’s hauled off to the clink he wobbles out a classic guitar solo. The song ends with big bombastic symphony like sounds while Bun E plows the song forward on his drums! Watch the clip I posted of the Tricks playing Dream Police live on there 1980 Tour! The sound is raw,loud and it’s real cool it’s filmed in black n white! Crank it! Bonus points for Bun E sporting a double bass kit and smoking ..hahahaha…

WAY OF THE WORLD-It’s The Way Of The World! This is a great song with real good verses and a real good chorus! They even have symphonic like strings weaving in and out to enhance the sound! Driving tempo keeps the album moving on all cylinders!

THE HOUSE IS ROCKIN(Domestic Disturbance)-“He Said…She Said” The House is Rockin indeed! The guitar drives this tune along with the drums while the bass jives up and down the neck! It’s a good rocking number! Straight ahead late night rock romper with all the trimmings of a hard rockers delight with a great chorus and vocal by Zander!

GONNA RAISE HELL-9 minutes of Tom Peterssons 4 or is 8 or is it 12 string Hamer Bass that he fuzzes the vinyl grooves out at the beginning of the song when he’s locked in tight with Bun E on the drums! I think when i got this album back in 79 I had never heard a studio song so long before in my life! Of course later on in life thru the help of my old friend John Young I learnt that Zep,Floyd and Skynryd and others did do over 9 minutes tunes but hey folks at the time I was (age 13)subscribing to the Kiss Army where the direct order was tunes no longer than 3.5 minutes and they could only be done long if they were in a live album entailing a drunk guitar solo(Shock Me/Kiss Alive 2) or a coked induced drum solo(100,000 Years/Kiss Alive or God Of Thunder/Kiss Alive 2) take Yer pick! Gonna Raise Heeeeeeeell sings Robin and he sings it in different tones and man i dig the bass on this song! Tom Weman produced this album and of course he did those Crue albums in the 80s that sound like crap but man on Dream Police,Tommys cooking the sonics nicely….

I’LL BE WITH YOU TONIGHT-this is a great never talked about track than again these guys have a ton of these songs as everyone always focuses on I Want You To Want Me all the time fair enough but dig deeper into then archives of the Cheap and that’s no Trick!

VOICES-a smattering of Voices start well Voices! Slow strummer of a song and this is where Zander pulls off the double duty of not only singing straight ahead rockers but mid tempoish tunes! Voices has a nice blend of acoustic,electric,pedal steel mixed in the back,strings and the song is not wimpy as Bun E floats the boat with his drums!

WRITING ON THE WALL-Trick ramps it up and this is a ass kicker of a track! Wowzers even Trick name drop Canada in the tune along with the Midwest and well of course Tokyo and lookie lookie they even sample there opening of the Budokan album during the middle of the tune! Snappy tune many a time change and toss in some percussion at the end!

I KNOW WHAT I WANT-Bass guy Tom takes the lead vocal on this track and it ramps up in the chorus when Robin joins in and hey we got some handclaps going on in them sonics! This is a good song. Tom has a different kinda vocal while Rick peels off a nice solo…

NEED YOUR LOVE- this tune made its debut on the Budokan album. This song builds off of Buns drums and the guitars along with Toms fuzzed up 12 string Hamer bass and Zander delivers a real great vocal! Need your love……looooooooooooove! The song as I had mentioned builds up to a huge jam out rock n sock em jam out! Ricks out of control at the end while the rest of the guys hold it down …song ramps up..chills out Ramps up….a classic!

IN CONCLUSION-Dream Police just flat out rocks! Too many people got hooked on the opening tune man get past it as there are many a Gems on here! Trick delivers all the goods here and check back on Friday when I spitball in words out another Trick album that is soooooooo good that many don’t know of it’s existence!

Now I’m getting a little ahead here. First of all shall we talk about Found All The Parts first?

Ok,so 1980 rolls around and Cheap Trick releases this 4 song sampler that features on Side 1 Day Tripper and Can’t Hold On both live versions or so they say. What I read years ago was that Cheap Trick just slapped a live audience on there Day Tripper track that’s here? Why? Who the hell knows where as Can’t Hold On which was actually recorded live and was released on the deluxe reissues of The Budokan album.

Now here’s where it gets real wierd and lets talk about A Conspiracy (Crowes anyone?) Trick Theory!

Side 2 features studio versions of two tracks one from 1976 called Such A Good Girl and another track called Take Me I’m Yours recorded in 1977.

EXCEPT…….

What I did read was that these two studio tracks were recorded along with other unreleased Trick songs(that were shelved)in late 1979 -80 not 1976 -77 as advertised so who knows and why? Did the record company suits decline what was Cheap Trick submitted? Who knows man but that’s Whacked!

A Trick Conspiracy?

FYI Check out the live vid for Day Tripper posted. It features 3 Drummers hahahaha and by this point Tom Petersson on bass had left Trick and had been replaced by Pete Comita who kinda looks like Petersson hahaha…more Trick Conspiracy!

I’m starting to realize that 1986 produced some real musical duds!(it only took me 29 years to realize this…!! Ha!)

Case in point…Ted Nugent rolls out Little Miss Dangerous/Quiet Riots Kevin Dubrow buys a wig with QR3/Triumph writes and performs the Trainwreck Masterpiece titled Sport Of Kings/Krokus with the ultimate Filler with Change Of Address and Y&T with (Ahem) Down With The Count!

All of these albums listed above I payed $$$ for so i will throw em all under the bus! Come to think of it I never bought Y&Ts Down For The Count. Tbone has the honour of that one!

If you haven’t already, you can click on the Main page(right hand side) look under Categories and right at the top is my 3/4s Filler section and you can read about all my musical mishaps and hell even Tbones closet band of homeboys Bad English are featured!

Carrying on with the theme of 1986 duds …Cheap Trick issues The Doctor album and for God sakes this thing crashed real fast after I spun it a few times…..basically a Do Not Resuscitate is ordered by Deke to put down The Doctor…

I’ll tell Ya why…..

Cheap Trick man I love these guys and from about 1980 or so when I got my mitts on the Budokan release I bought all things Trick! The 1980s weren’t too kind to the Tricksters after they released the real good 1982 album One On One. 4 years later in 86 man I got Cheap Tricked and it ain’t funny….

Who the hell is responsible for all the programmed keyboards,Synthy sounds,sterile production?

ITS UP TO YOU- boom a wall of keyboards erupts and considering this song is dripping with a wall of keys,programmed drums at least Nielsens guitar is somewhat cranked but I’ll be damned the chorus is real good and for a opening track this is real good considering with what’s to follow…..

REARVIEW MIRROR ROMANCE- umm nope next……

THE DOCTOR-this is the title track its 1986 man like a Top Gun soundtrack throw away tune kinda like if the song Danger Zone is Crack…listening to The Doctor is bad crack…..

ARE YOU LONELY TONIGHT/NAME OF THE GAME/KISS ME RED/TAKE ME TO THE TOP and GOOD GIRLS GO TO HEAVEN(BAD GIRLS GO EVERYWHERE)- these 5 songs I have no recollection of and well I will explain later ….next…..

MAN-U-LIP-LATOR- Ummm ok The Trick perk me up somewhat out of my Musical coma somewhat with this tune it has a great chorus so yeah there’s life somewhat left in this album…..

ITS ONLY LOVE-holy heck this song is the deal ..PURE GENIUS! I’m not joshin ya’s ! This song is one of the best Trick songs ever! It’s Only Love is a well written back to basics power pop Trick tune and its buried at the back of the album! This song is why I love Cheap Trick! The song is great some cool acoustic by Robin and Rick while Bun E and Jon lay down some cool drums and bass plus some chicks do some impressive background singing. Zander is easily in my top 5 fav lead vocal guys! Watch the video and speaking of the video they included the girl in the bottom right corner doing actual sign language to Robins lyrics! What a great move and the story is even better as Trick used to play this basement club in Chicago and there was deaf people living above them and they could feel the beat of the Tricksters playing!

Watch the vid its a classic still to this day…..crank it! The ending of the vid is classic Goofy Cheap Trick Atta Boy Rick!

IN CONCLUSION- yeah I was duped totally by the Trick on The Doctor those 5 tracks I have not listened to since 1986 except for the last track which is a wickedly good track as I could have easily done it as a Cool Lil Number easily! So I give them total props for that! Yep if your keeping score I have Its Up To You,Man-U-Lip-Lator and Its Only Love on my iPod. Those are the only 3 tracks I bought from The Doctor!

2 years later they hit paydirt with The Flame. That song made me wanna puke but I was happy that the Cheap Trickers were back on people’s radars!

Cheap Trick came along with there 10,000 shrieking Japanese girls back to Tbay in 1980 and basically took over my stereo with the Budokan release. Kiss for me was the be all end all but there 1980 release(Unmasked) was a bizarre effort from Kiss including the cover it’s like what they say nowadays they phoned it in. Kiss was sounding like a band that’s tank was starting to run empty and I’m sure all the dissension In the Kiss ranks did not help but hey Cheap Trick comes along with this live album just like Kiss did with there two live releases (Alive & Alive 2) and kicks down the walls with the ‘ hey if u think our albums sound soft well crank this up little fanboys” and by golly I did and I was converted with Kiss lacking any gumption Cheap Trick came along with the Budokan and fulfilled my listening need at the time. Cool songs,loud guitars loud drums, a singer who could sing and 10,000 screaming Japanese girls ! Whoo Hooo !

Cheap Trick had a cool gimmick as well. You had the two cool rockers(Tom Petersson & Robin Zander) and the two nerds ( Rick Nielsen & Bun E Carlos) and man it worked! Check out the classic In Color album cover

Let me tell ya what all the fuss was about!

HELLO THERE-some dude announces ” would you please welcome Epic recording artists CHEAP TRICK …and now the shrieking begins and Rick cranks in with his guitar and Robin tells us all Hello There Ladies and Gentlemen! And were off. Girls screaming and guitars blasting And wait to top it off a few seconds of Bun E Carlos pounding out a smidge of a drum solo. Shit the guy that looks like a used car salesman lays down the beat! Needless to say I’m converted!

COME ON ,COME ON- Trick rips into what could have been a great single,super catchy verse, catchy Chrous, sloppy solo back to catchy verse and man it’s a keeper folks! No Tricks here! Just good hard rock!

LOOKOUT – is easily one of my favs from this album it has Rick and Robin nailing out some cool guitar action along with Robins voice who still has one of the best set of pipes in the biz as far as i am concerned! Three songs down and I’m on board ! Three songs in and each song is getting bigger!

BIG EYES- I always love when I hear this album how slow they are talking to,the crowd cuz well the girls are screaming and Robin says Biiiiiiiig Eyes! Screaming enthuses yet again and this song is a solid rocker bit of different time changes thrown in just to throw me off as listener! Good job fellas messing with a young mind!

NEED YOUR LOVE- holy crap a 9 minute song to end side one! That’s the equivalent to three Kiss three minute numbers! Carlos lays down a slow drum and Tom and his 12 string bass join and than the guitars this is a slow builder of a tune people and than Zander nails down a super slow vocal, man this guys voice drips cool on this……and to cap it off they end it with a rock out jam at the end!

AIN’T THAT A SHAME- Carlos starts off this cover of the Fats Domino tune and he is joined by the three other guys and Zander takes over! Trick prove that you can take a song from the 50s and rock it up and that some teenage boy in Tbay (moi) will dig it!

I WANT YOU TO WANT ME- ummmm I think you would have to be on island or lost at sea for 30 years not to know this track! Budokan sold millions because of this track and skyrocketed Cheap Trick to fame and the Budokan became the iconic album for the Trick!

SURRENDER- well next to I Want You To Want Me this is the next biggest song on Budokan. It has always been one of my faves …..heck they even name drop Kiss in it ! So I guess were all alright than now are we?! Pretty straight a head rock n roll tune no fooling around and hey this is Trick at there finest!

GOODNIGHT- cool Trick take the exact same music and change the lyrics from the opening song on Budokan, Hello There to Goodnight! Genius man and it works!…..

CLOCK STRIKES TEN- Cheap Trick ends this Japanese sushi fest with a great rocker and man it leaves you wanting more! Gotta get on down gotta get on down sings Zander and yeah man we all gotta get on down ! Whatever the hell he means by that but if that is Hanging out with the Trick guys backstage at the Budokan …..Man i’m in!

IN CONCLUSION-when I got this album in 1980 Cheap Trick easily became my second favourite band real fast! Budokan was a loud live album and even all these years later it’s hard for me to say they ever topped this album! Dream Police and there spelf titled release from 1997 come close but i always go back to the Budokan ! Kudos to Zander/Nielsen/Carlos/Petersson